ThreeFold
by Rosie McLovin
Summary: Vergil Sparda and Tifa Lockheart have kids and Dante has a girlfriend. See how the dysfunctional Sparda family live out their daily lives. AU and a Crossover!
1. A Prologue and A Summary

**Threefold**

**Based on the online RPG _The Chaos Brought Forth_**

**Author's Note - As stated in the title, this is based off of the RPG I'm in on Blurty-dot-com. TCBF is about fictional characters from video games, anime, novels, animated movies and others are brought into this reality, and are trying to work together to get back to their worlds. But it isn't easy, for they fight against their enemies, the government, and sometimes even each other. But there are some who do _not_ want to return to their world, such as Sparda, his wife, his two sons, and his daughter-in-law, Tifa Lockheart. This story is about the life of Vergil and Tifa _after_ the events that take place in the RPG. Also, since the RPG isn't complete, this is somewhat of an AU. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!**

**Prologue**

It's strange how so much chaos can happen in one person's life. Otium Sparda seemed to realize that one more then anything. There was a saying that the people in this existance would say. Something along the lines of: "A picture is worth a thousand words". Yet in his case, it was "A picture is worth a thousand lies". He grew up believing that his parents, uncle, and grandparents had a beautiful life in the past, that the relationship between his mother and his father was steady and flawless. That when she gave birth to him, it was the most beautiful moment in her life. That's the pictures in the photo album told him. That's what Grandma Eva told him when she would show him the pictures. That's what he grew up believing his entire childhood... until he reached age fourteen. That was when the truth came out.

His family _did not_ have a wonderful past. His grandparents were once killed, and somehow brought back to life, only put up with more trouble and danger in this new existance. The relationship between his mother and father _was not _steady and flawless. Despite the fact that they loved each other more then life itself, she lived in fear of him because of his split personality, the Nelo Angelo. To this day, she seemed to be unsure of how he developed that split personality. Otium figured it was something similar to the story of _"Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde"._ Whenever his father would grow unstable and angry, the Nelo Angelo would be brought out, harming anyone and everyone in his path except the one person he loved: his wife.

And his birth wasn't a joyest moment either. For one, he and his brother and sister were premature when they were born. His mother almost did not survive the delievery, and she had to have his grandmother and grandfather hide him and his other two siblings from his father's other side. Otium's mother faced the worst. She gave herself to the Nelo Angelo, gave into him, and did all that her frail, human body could accomplish just so he wouldn't find out about her children. She feared that if he found her children, he would do something terrible to them. And her fear seemed to multiply when she and the Nelo Angelo came face to face with the newly revived Mundus.

Mundus. The Prince of Darkness. The one who defeated and enslaved his father, transforming him from Vergil Sparda to Nelo Angelo. And since his devoted black angel seemed to cherish Otium's mother so much, Mundus thought it would be best if she was to serve under him. But the human mind and heart is incredibly strong. Despite Mundus' attempts to seduce her, posess her, and drive her into insanity and chaos, Otium's mother had an iron will. Even when Nelo Angelo restrained her and allowed his master to try and brainwash her, she fought through it, even to the point where she was on the brink of collapse.

And that was when he, Otium, and his brother and sister, rescued her.

Tifa made a confession. In the middle of all of her torture, she made a confession to the Nelo Angelo, looking into his eyes, looking _beyond_ him, and reaching Vergil Sparda. She told him that she had given birth, that she had delievered his children. And that was what brought him back to her. The Nelo Angelo was overpowered by Vergil, and then was no more. Otium's mother told him that he and his siblings were what gave their father strength that day. The fact that he had a family, that he had children to protect and to love, was stronger then his split personality or any of Mundus' tricks. His mother told him, that even though Grandpa Sparda and Uncle Dante showed up to assist Vergil and destroy Mundus, that her babies were the _real_ heroes that day.

Did Otium hate his family for their lies? Did he hate them for misleading him?

The answer was simply "No." At age sixteen, an age full of drama and teenaged angst, he understood perfectly why they lied to him as a child. Simply because _he was a child then_. His family wanted him, his brother and his sister to have a happy childhood, to believe that their parents and grandparents and uncle had a wonderful life before they came into the picture. Yet, he was happy when they told him and the other two the truth when they were old enough to understand it all.

At first, there was tension. Understandable tension. Yet in the end, everything seemed to go back to the way it was before his parents told him the truth.

Life carried on from there. And it went something like this...


	2. Otium

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER ONE - Otium**

Otium Sparda was the first born out of the triplets Tifa had delievered. Ever since birth, he was always looked upon as an oddball, for he was the first male in the Sparda family to have a quiet and shy personality. He also was the only Sparda who was born with his mother's black hair and red eyes, as opposed to his father's silver hair and blue eyes. Because of his bashful nature and silent demeanor, Otium became his mother's favorite. One of the stories she would tell him was when she and his Grandma Eva saw an ultrasound of the triplets for the first time. She said that even before they were born, his brother and sister were _always_ fighting. Tifa and Eva would watch the two kick at each other furiously from inside of her womb, but little Otium always caught her eye. He was never involved in the kicking, and kept to himself. Apparentally something about Otium being the wallflower out of the family appealed to Tifa.

Another thing that seemed to appeal to Tifa was that Otium was in no way a rude child. He was quiet, he was a boy of few words, but he was also very curious. His face was never expressionless and his eyes were never blank. Although he picked up his mother's shyness, he seemed to have his father's intelligence. Otium had a passion for reading and learning. When his brother and sister would be out fighting the backyard and have Vergil and Sparda trip over each other in order to break them up, Otium found himself in the kitchen with his mother, helping her make dinner or dry/wash the dishes. When his Uncle Dante was off sparring with Otium's brother and father, the young Sparda was on the porch, reading. When his sister was working out or going out with Grandpa Sparda for target practice, he was learning how to speak his mother's native tongue (Japanese).

Nobody in his family would have expected him to turn out the way he did. He didn't have the bad boy attitude, yet he wasn't your average cliche nerd. He was attractive, standing around 5'3 (short, like his mother) with a pale, tear-shaped face like his father. However, he kept his hair like his Uncle Dante: long and messy. He seemed to do that one on purpose though, for his mother would always be playfully fussing with his hair and he seemed to enjoy the attention. Otium, like his mother, was also a very modest child. His clothing was always clean cut and proper. He was the type of person who never went to school in blue jeans or T-shirts, even in the summer. He always liked to look professional, and that's probably what made his mother so proud of him.

The best way to describe Otium Sparda would be that the boy was shy, and _not_ scared. He did not have a love for firearms or swords. Instead, he learned martial arts and hand-to-hand combat from his mother. In thesixteen years old his life, Tifa had become everything to Otium: a mother, a teacher, a friend, and his martial arts' master. He was always very close with his mother, so much that it shocked Sparda and Vergil that his son did not want to be trained by the two of them. At times, Grandpa Sparda would tease him, telling him that he spends too much time with his mother and that no pretty human girl would want a Mama's Boy.

But nevertheless, Otium seemed to prefer a human life over a demon life. Thus, he always maintained a loving bond with his mother and Grandmother, yet always seemed to push himself away from his father, grandfather, and uncle. From Otium's point of view, demons lived a life of chaos and violence, for they had power to abuse. For Otium, he saw that humans had no such power, and because of that, they could settle with a peaceful, simple kind of life _without_ destruction. He would die of shock if he was to find out just how wrong he was about the human race...

_Misunderstood. Bashful. Silent. Naive._

_**Otium Sparda**_


	3. Damien

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER TWO - Damien**

Damien Sparda was the second born of the triplets. Unlike his older brother Otium, Damien was a boy after his father's (and grandfather's) own heart. If there was anyone (out of the triplets) that Vergil was proud of, Damien Sparda was definitely the one. The boy was proud and strong, a miniature replica of his father. His skin was pale, his slicked back hair was as white as a dove, and his blue eyes shimmered like water. Ever since before Damien was born, he already had a lot of his father inside of him. He was always causing trouble for his siblings, kicking at them and starting fights. Of course, at the time, the fact that Vergil's son already had so much of his father inside of him terrified the son of Sparda. With Nelo Angelo as his split personality and his instability increasing with every passing moment, the last thing Vergil wanted was to pass down those horrible traits onto his son. He would be happy that his attitude and pride were the only horrible traits that were passed onto Damien.

Vergil's son was an arrogant being. His face always had a smirk, never a smile. He seemed to wholeheartedly agree with his father that might controlled everything, and always seemed interested in his family's history. The stories about his grandfather had always fascinated him since birth. Damien seemed interested in the Demon World, the Temen-ni-Gru, the gatekeepers, the devils, just about everything that had to do with his grandfather's race and lineage. It seemed to be the young Sparda's goal in life to make his father and grandfather proud of him. To achieve that goal, the boy would train himself to be strong. He would fight, he would spar, and most of the time would show off his skills to his sister. The two fought each other as if they were sworn enemies… sometimes it was just too exhausting for the other members of the Sparda family, who had to spend every other hour breaking up a fight between those two.

Unlike Otium, everyone seemed to expect Damien to come out the way he did. He seemed to be more of a man then he was a boy, at least _he_ thought so. He stood tall at 5'7, taller then his mother but still shorter then his father. Physically, he was as tough as nails, but also appeared to be rather bigheaded. He knew he was strong, he knew he was tough, and he knew he could win the heart of any girl just by winking at her. In the personality department, Damien based his character slightly on his Uncle Dante, but just when it came to women and his wardrobe. (He knew that if he ended up being anything like Uncle Dante, his father would no doubt beat the hell out of him. That was one battle he didn't want any part of.) Damien wasn't a fan of any type of shirt. He exposed his bare chest and stomach to the public and occasionally had to get sent home from school for being topless in class. That didn't annoy him, he knew how to piss them off all over again (this time by wearing a skin tight shirt that showed off every detail of his torso). He also had a love for black leather pants and heavy boots.

Like his grandfather, father, and uncle, Damien was fascinated by swords. His father's Yamato was to him as the Holy Grail was to Christians. Because he was Vergil's favorite, he allowed his son to train with him and Grandpa Sparda while using the Yamato. That, as well as training with the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda, was a tremendous honor for the young quarter-blood devil. The two showed him the basics when he was very young: how to hold the sword, how to attack, how to defend, how to move with it while attacking or defending, and so on. By age sixteen, Damien was conscidered a professional with a sword.

For Damien, a demon's life was the life for him. The strength he possessed led him to believe that the demon race was the superior race. And although he loved his mother and grandmother dearly, he looked upon the human race as lower beings. Beings that could never measure up to the greatness of a demon. He too, like Otium, would die of shock if he was to discover just how wrong he was.

_Proud. Mighty. Strong. Foolish._

_**Damien Sparda.**_


	4. Lilianna

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER THREE - Lilianna**

Had Lilianna Sparda been brought into existance as a _Devil May Cry_ character, she would have most definitely went down in history as one of the strongest (and least annoying) female leads in the series. She was the third born out of the triplets, and even before her birth she was already at war with her brother, Damien. The two quarter-blood demons literally came out of Tifa kicking and screaming at each other, at least that was what her mother always said about the two. She also said that the two of them scared the hell out of the doctors in the process. Just by looking at her, one would automatically know that Lilianna was the daughter of Vergil Sparda and Tifa Lockheart. She had the pale, fair complextion, snow white hair, and of course the inhuman height from her father, and the slender, busty and atheletic body of her mother. Lilianna consequently has heterochromatic irises: one red, from her mother, and one blue, from her father.

Despite the fact that Lilianna was always in a fight with her brother, she was actually a very laid back, relaxed and happy girl. She was never the crybaby type, and she rarely ever asked for help when she was in the middle of a brawl. That no doubt came from her father's pride and stubbornness. It wasn't like she _enjoyed_ constantly getting into fights with her stupid big brother. She just had to put up with it since she was the little sister. And it annoyed her to no end that she would be sitting on the porch eating sushi, only to choke on the California Roll because not only did _someone_ slip a spicy roll into her dish (she obviously picked up her father's disgust for spicy food), but they also kicked her in the back of the head and she went face first into the pavement. Then he would _ever so kindly _stop her from choking by kicking her in the stomach and having the sushi come flying out of her throat. After that, she would get up, grab him by the hair and break his nose, and the fight would begin.

Because of what Tifa and Eva saw in the ultrasound, they somewhat figured that Lilianna would come out this way. She came out kicking and screaming at her older brother and both women automatically knew that there was going to be some sibling rivalry. What they did not expect however, was that Lilianna had developed a very loving bond with her big brother, Otium. When the triplets were old enough to crawl, she would follow Otium everywhere he went. When the babies grew a little older, she would hug him and touch his face, showing him nothing but affection. Now, at age sixteen, Lilianna still has a very close bond with her big brother, but doesn't have any time to spend with him. Because she was gifted with her mother's beauty and optimism, she turned out to be quite the social butterfly. Lilianna stood about 5'7 with long, waist-length white hair. Her long legs were always exposed to the people around her, for she either wore hotpants or miniskirts. She also wore tight (yet comfortable) shirts that usually exposed her shoulders and stomach. Because of the girl's atheletic and beautiful build, she managed to make the cheerleading squad as well as the soccer team. With the cheerleaders tugging her in one direction and then the soccer team carrying her off in another, and then returning home to train with Grandpa Sparda and Uncle Dante, Lilianna seemed to have no room in her schedule to fit in quality time with her brother. That disappointed her to no end.

Nobody in the family is sure what is was about Lilianna that attracted her Uncle Dante. Was it because she was his hot little niece, or was it because she had a love for firearms? Not even Dante was sure in that department. But by sixteen, Lilianna was already a perfect shot. It took lots of practice and a lot of discipline and training, but her Uncle Dante and Grandpa Sparda managed to transform her from a cheerleading, soccer-playing sweet little schoolgirl into a gun-totting little badass (as Dante liked to call her). She was, without a doubt, Dante's favorite out of the triplets. That alone surprised him, but he figured since one boy was already too much like his sister-in-law and the other was too much like his brother, then there was no way either of them would be his number one favorite. Amazing how the one who ended up with his personality ended up being the girl.

Unlike her brothers, Lilianna didn't seem to pick a side when it came to her human and demon lineage. She seemed to have a good understanding of both, and figured that one really wasn't any better then the other. But she never let it get to her. She wasn't the type of person who wanted to show contempt for something that ran through her, regardless of whether it was the blood of a demon or the blood of a human. She had no idea how much trouble her neutral feelings would bring her.

_Social. Friendly. Reasonable. Vulnerable._

_**Lilianna Sparda...**_


	5. A Normal Morning

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER FOUR - A Normal Morning**

Every day in the Sparda household seemed to run with a strange routine. For one, everybody seemed to wake up before nine o'clock on the weekends and during summer vacation. The reason for that was simple: Vergil and Tifa were very, very _loud_ in the morning. When everyone would be in a dead sleep, they would hear just about everything that went on in Vergil and Tifa's room: Vergil's moans, Tifa's screams, and a lot of banging around against the walls and the doors. Then of course there would be the insanely squeaky mattress, and then he would hear the shower running, more banging noises, more screaming and moaning, and then finally after about an hour or so, they'd finally quiet down. Damien Sparda would be laying on the couch in the living room with his eyes wide open and a rather disturbed look on his face.

_Dad's been getting a few tips from Auntie Nevan, hasn't he? _the boy thought to himself. _And it sure as hell disturbs me to no end that I'm calling her 'Auntie Nevan' when she was Dad's, Uncle Dante's, and **Grandpa's**, old flame. Did she make it her goal to sleep with all the men in the Sparda family? In that case, does that mean me and Otium are going to be quite literally **screwed **once we get older?_

The thought of being seduced by that red haired succubus was a thought that usually came to mind right around this time. Normally Damien wouldn't mind. Auntie Nevan was, for lack of better words, one sexy babe. But conscidering the fact that she was indeed a succubus, well, the idea of getting some kind of demon STD wasn't very flattering. That would be one embarassing way to go in his honest opinion. But that wasn't the only reason why he found himself resenting his 'Auntie' Nevan. She showed his father too many moves and too many tricks, and the rest of the family had to suffer for it in the morning. Now his father was an animal in the morning and his mother just could not resist him (though Damien was sure no woman in her right mind could or would be able to).

If he was a foolish man, he would've hated his parents for all of that noise by now.

The rest of the house went through pretty much the same thing in the morning. Lilianna would lay in bed, tossing and turning and trying to smother out the sounds with her pillow. Otium would be in his bed with the sheets pulled up to his cheekbones, blushing furiously under the covers and thanking God that nobody from his school was spending the night. Grandpa Sparda was no doubt enjoying every moment of it. The triplets knew their grandfather well enough to know that he was cheering on is son the entire time. Eva on the other hand... seemed worried that Vergil was being _too hard_ on his wife.

Once the sounds had stopped, there would be silence for about a half hour, perhaps twenty minutes. Then the sounds of Tifa getting dressed would be heard (Vergil usually laid in bed for a little while longer), and then the mother of the triplets would come walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. Within a half hour, the smell of coffee and breakfast filled the kitchen and then lingered into the rest of the rooms in the house. By then, everybody was up and getting dressed. Nobody in the house was stupid enough to miss Tifa's breakfast.

Normally it was unusual for such a big family to be together at breakfast time, but over the years, it seemed to grow on everyone to the point where they were completely content. Vergil and Tifa at first weren't too thrilled about Sparda and Eva moving in with them, but both knew that they could no deny them anything (Tifa was too kind to just send them away, and Vergil knew that Sparda just would've just barged in and made himself at home with or without his son's consent). But after awhile, the family seemed to feel right at home with each other. Eva would help Tifa make breakfast, and then shortly afterwards everyone would be eating.

Around eleven in the morning, however... that was when things would get a little hectic. Uncle Dante and his girlfriend usually dropped by around that time. The two of them had two volumes: loud, and _louder_. And just when everyone was getting comfortable and enjoying the morning for what it was, that was when they heard the side door swing open.

Now Uncle Dante and his girlfriend, RD, weren't an abusive couple. They weren't nessisarily unhappy with each other. Sometimes when they dropped by, they seemed to get along perfectly and everybody would just keep on relaxing. Today however... their two volumes were cranked up to the maximum.

"I can't believe you didn't do that shit, Dante!"

"No need for the name-calling, babe! Personally I'd like it if you did something for a change!"

"What I'd like is if you got off your _big lazy ass_ and do something productive."

"Oh yeah 'cause I never do _anything_ productive!"

"You haven't in a long ass time, don't give me that shit!"

The two went storming right into the kitchen as they argued. Vergil shook his head a bit at the noise. Here they came again, arguing about things that was nobody's business and doing it as loud as they could. Sparda pretended that he was interested in what was going on with the rest of the world by reading the newspaper. He certainly didn't want to get involved with this one. Eva was pretending to be fixing up Lilianna's hair, and everyone else was forced to listen to the screaming. Tifa, however, attempted to break up the hostility.

"Hey R," she began. "How come you didn't drop by yesterday? Eva and I waited for a long time, it was Girl's Night Out."

RD took a nice long drink of orange juice. "Teef! I had to go and drop Mal off at the Markham house." she rose an eyebrow. "She says that she goes over there to make peace with the family, you know, ever since Nemesis came bursting in there and ruined their shit. But I think she goes over there because she's interested in someone."

At that Tifa just smiled. "Oh really? Who?"

Dante stretched out his arms. "Who _hasn't_ Malibu been interested in? For being three hundred years old, she acts like a high school girl with a crush."

And that just killed RD's mood. "Oh yeah, Tifa. The OTHER reason why I didn't drop by yesterday was because I had to go _back _into town to open up this new store, _Devil Never Cry_, because, oh you know, some retard and his big lazy ass is just _too busy_."

At that, Dante nearly fell over, then shot a look over at Tifa. "Teef! Tell her I run off killing demons that randomly appear in this world, HER HOME, every damn day and it's about time she did something for a change."

RD put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me? You haven't been out hunting demons, you've been out wasting time with Zack and Cloud ever since Zack opened up that strip joint. I've been the one taking care of your piece of shit store!"

Dante's hand formed into a fist. "No you haven't! You're always out with Malibu and Loleile, driving around in the car, checking out the boys, going to the salon with your nails and your hair and everything--"

"Don't talk about my hair! You are so damn lazy Dante, you and your _big lazy ass _do NOTHING." RD snapped in retaliation.

Dante crossed his arms and glared. "What's the matter, R? Don't get too mad, you might get a nosebleed. God forbid that happens, it'll ruin your makeup."

"Dante. Bite me." was RD's response as she punched him in the arm and moved over towards the fridge

"Agh! _MOM_!" Dante whined, only to have Eva ignore him. Tifa however shook her hand at RD.

"RD, be a lady!" she snapped, only to be ignored as Dante's girlfriend refilled her glass of orange juice.

Otium and Damien decided, shortly after the arrival of their uncle and his girlfriend, to eat breakfast in the living room while watching Saturday morning cartoons. While Damien was laughing and cheering on the antagonist in the show, who was responsible for explosions and guns blazing and screaming children, Otium seemed to be in deep thought over the entire situation. To him, he figured that Dante and RD were just running out of reasons to be angry at each other. Neither of them were lazy, neither seemed ungreatful, any other time they seemed to be getting along great. Otium figured that marriage consuling was probably something they should be taking into conscideration... only problem was, they weren't married.

_Maybe the consuler could make an exception? _he thought to himself. _But maybe it wouldn't get to that point... Uncle Dante doesn't seem like a person who would commit. Neither does RD. But maybe that's why they get along... so much in common._

"Hey!" Damien's voice broke Otium's silence. "If you ain't gonna eat your bacon, don't let it get all cold and gross, give it to me."

"Oh... yeah..." Otium stammered, then handed his brother his food.

"Haha, thanks man." Damien said with a laugh as he shoved the whole slice of bacon into his mouth.

When Eva stopped fussing with Lilianna's hair, the girl rushed over and plopped down beside Otium, running her hand through his hair and teasing him playfully.

"What were you thinking about, Oti?" she asked him.

Otium looked at her. "About Uncle Dante." then he glanced over at the people around the kitchen table. "I think he and RD need to see a consuler."

At that, Damien couldn't help but snicker. "Oh please, what would be the use? How can a _human_ give a _demon_ consuling? Besides, those who try to help other people with their problems are usually people _with_ problems."

"That's my boy." Sparda muttered, chuckling shortly afterwards. Lilianna on the other hand rolled her eyes.

"Damien, there's humans in the room, if you forgot. Don't be so rude." she snapped, only to get slapped in the face.

Shortly after Damien had struck his sister, Lilianna leapt over Otium and tackled her brother onto the floor. That was when the yelling and screaming really went through the roof. Damien had two handfuls of his sister's hair and looked as if he was going to rip the strands right out of her head. Lilianna was punching him in his ribs and his chest while she was ontop of him. Then Damien rolled ontop of her and kneed her in the stomach. That was followed by a slap. Then Lilianna managed to punch him in the lip. Once his bottom lip swelled and burst, that was when Tifa and Dante rushed over to break it up.

"Hey hey hey! Knock it off!" Dante snapped, grabbing Damien by his hips and trying to pull him off of his sister.

Tifa on the other hand had positioned herself between her children and helped Lilianna to her feet. "Honestly, you two. Fighting and getting blood on the carpet. What am I going to do with you?"

Dante punched Damien lightly in the arm. "And you're not allowed to hit girls."

Damien groaned and looked at Dante. "But she's not a_ girl_, she's my_ sister_."

Otium sat down on the couch. He had a very worried expression the entire time, but seemed to nervous or shy to step in and break it up himself. He personally hated seeing those two fight. They were fighting since the day they were born. One would think it would be something Otium would be used to. His father and grandfather obviously were used to it. It mildly disturbed him that his father seemed to enjoy watching those two fight. He would break it up, yes, but he'd spend the first three minutes watching it. And everytime he watched them fight, he'd watch it with a grin.

Normally Otium would have labeled him as a sick man. But since Vergil was his _father... _well... he wouldn't dare say such a thing about him. The first born of the triplets glanced over at his mother. She was rubbing Lilianna's cheek and straightening her out. Tifa didn't like seeing them fight. She didn't want her children fighting so violently_ against each other_... and she _definately_ didn't want them to trash her house. When Damien's lip healed up, he groaned and sat down at the table, stealing Dante's seat.

"_Sisters_..." he muttered, then took a drink of black coffee (which he hated, but he'd do anything to make himself look like a tough guy). "Dad, you're lucky. Uncle Dante came out as a boy. I can't imagine how much he'd suck if he was a girl."

That was when Dante came up from behind him and put him in a headlock. "Hey hey hey, don't be sexist! As hot as I am now, I know I'd make one sexy babe if I came out with fewer parts."

Eva looked over at him with a disgusted look. "Do you really need to share that with us?"

Dante laughed and shrugged. "What can I say? Sisters can't be _that_ bad. Now _stepsisters_ on the other hand... picture this scenerio, Damien." Dante began. "Grandpa Sparda and Grandma Eva split."

Sparda looked up. "Wait a minute, why the hell are you involving me in this scenerio?"

Dante ignored him. "And Grandpa Sparda hooks up with some chick that you know you're going to hate, but then Stepmommy says 'Oh Dante, I have a daughter. She wants to _meet you_.' and just when you think it's going to be Aeris pulling a Gondola Scene, BAM. In comes a seven foot tall blonde bombshell with long lovely legs, D-cups and cherry lips who's oh so very happy to meet you. Damn kid, if I had a stepsister like that, I'd let her kiss me goodnight every-"

That was when RD punched him in the arm again. "You're_ sick_."

Dante winced and looked at her. "No, I'm a_ guy_."

At that, Otium sighed. It was yet another "normal" morning in the Sparda Household.


	6. School, Sex, and Stupid Humans

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER FIVE - School, Sex, and Stupid Humans**

"Damien! Lili! Get up!"

When the alarm clock went off at six-thirty in the morning, Tifa knew that Otium was already up and about, most likely finishing breakfast or just stepping out of the shower. It was his younger siblings that would give his mother a hard time. Now those two could sleep through just about anything. If a bomb went off about a block away, those two would be in a dead sleep. Tifa walked into Damien's room and proceeded to rip the blankets off of his bed. Out of a dead sleep, Damien's eyes snapped open and his arm lashed out, grabbing the sheets and covering himself.

"I'm not dressed, Mom!" he shouted in annoyance.

Tifa crossed her arms. "And why is that?"

"It was hot last night. This quilt gets me too warm." was Damien's response.

At that, his mother just shook her head. "Get up and take a shower."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Tifa knew that response all too well. As soon as she stepped out of the room and headed towards Lili's, Damien would go right back to sleep and ignore everything his mother had said. She would have to go back into the room, rip the covers off completely and then turn the lights on for him to get out of bed all together. If that didn't work, she would counterattack by pouring a glass of ice cold water over his head. That would be enough to wake _anyone_ up. Even a 1/4 demon son of Vergil.

Lili however was like a bear. She could sleep through anything for the longest of times. Tifa could drag her off of the bed, pull her down the stairs and throw her in the swimming pool and all she would get out of Lili was a yawn. After plenty of futile attempts to wake her up, a very sleepy and grumpy Vergil came walking into his daughter's room, took her into his arms and placed her in the bathtub. Then he turned on the shower as cold as possible. Within ten minutes, Lili was shouting and screaming and shivering... and Sparda was out of bed, laughing about it.

When Lilianna Sparda had dried herself off and threw her wet clothes into the laundry chute, she proceeded to wash up and get dressed. When the two siblings were finally up and ready, the walk to school would begin. Their house wasn't too far from the school, it was at least five blocks away, and the triplets were fast enough to make it there in under five minutes. Inhuman strength and speed seemed to pay off when it came to transportation. Otium, Damien and Lilianna attended a private school, an idea their mother had. Conscidering who their parents were, the children of Vergil Sparda and Tifa Lockheart were looked upon as celebrities in a certain way. Everywhere they turned, the triplets inevitably would run into a girl shrieking "OH MY GOD YOUR DAD AND UNCLE ARE SO SEXY!" or a guy saying "WHERE'S YOUR HOT MOM? SHE HAS A NICE RACK".

At least at a private school, the pressure would be supressed. At least by a little.

The Sparda family seemed to be debating the whole "triplets attending a human school" situation. Sparda and Vergil were completely against it. Even if the children knew better then to unleash their demonic abilities, there would always be a chance that a fight would break out at the school and some human would get seriously injured. Then the entire family could be in danger. Then of course there was the whole "humans are incapable of teaching a demon new tricks" phrase that the two would throw around. Tifa argued that, despite the children having demon blood in them, they were still human and would no doubt marry human spouses in the future, who would give birth to human children. If it came to that, the triplets needed to learn to blend in with a human world and learn how to live in it. Dante and Eva seemed to agree with her on that one, which actually came as a surprise to Tifa. She thought for sure that those two would agree with Sparda and Vergil.

For the triplets however, school seemed to be an interesting experience.

For a boy as naturally intelligent as Otium, school was possibly his favorite place to be. He did not show off his intelligence or made a spectacle of himself infront of his fellow students and teachers. When it came to his work and studies, Otium just let his pencil do the talking. He rarely ever said anything infront of the class or gave an opinion. Speeches and presentations weren't his favorite, but he had no problem going up infront of the class and giving an explanation. And despite his conserved and intelligent nature, Otium wasn't looked upon as your stereotypical nerd. His voice was soft yet masculine, and he was a fairly attractive young man. He had at least every girl in all of his classes give him their phone numbers. He would never call them though. Phones were a hassel, and he wouldn't know what to say to a girl. It was a whole different ballgame for shy little Otium.

His first hour was Advanced Placement Chemistry. Because there were no assigned seats, the girls in the chemistry class would sit in the desks that surrounded Otium. He noticed that despite their intelligence, they would always make up some reason to ask him for help or advice, just so they could listen to him speak. Otium didn't understand that one in the least bit. He was polite enough to acknowledge them, could would blink or raise an eyebrow when they would giggle and blush when he spoke to them. He seemed to have the same effect on the anti-social girls in his class.

_Why do they act so strangely? _he found himself asking. _Why can't these girls act more like Mother or Lili?_

Damien on the other hand was a stereotypical badboy. Although he had as much booksmarts as his older brother, he didn't put any effort or energy into making himself a good student. He would constantly skip class and was usually found with two female students in the men's lockeroom. The physical education teacher caught him in the shower with the two students, and Damien's excuse was that he couldn't wash his entire back and the ladies were assisting him. Word didn't get to the principal or his parents however, because in the next minute Damien had the teacher in the shower right along with him.

The second born son of Vergil had a love for young girls and grown women. Although he put on a badboy image, he was never a very crude or vulgar person when it came to the ladies. When he was infront of a girl, his language was toned down and his sex appeal skyrocketed (however, when he was infront of a guy, he was as nasty as a truckdriver). At school, he would find himself touching (not vulgarly), kissing, and at times holding various school girls on the way to class, and in the class itself (when he decided to go). When approaching a random girl he did not know, he'd brush his finger tips against her cheek, brush back her hair and kiss her very lightly on her lips. Then he would pull away slowly, give her a grin, then be on his way. For girls he did know, however, he would come up from behind her, place his hands on her hips (which would then usually find their way either into their skirts or up into their shirts), kiss their neck and then whisper something sensual. Then he would be on his way again.

For women on the other hand, Damien took a more formal and gentlemen-like approach (acting more like his father rather then RD's old flame, Ren Maaka). Girls were naive and hormonal. They wouldn't stop him from doing what he wanted to do, despite the fact if they knew him or not. He was an attractive young man with an irresistable charm, someone the girls would fantasize about in the pirvate of their rooms at night. He was simply bringing those fantasies to life for those girls when he touched and kissed them. However, women were more of a challenge. For one, they were more logical and wiser. They usually had years of experience when it came to being with men, and knew much better then to be flirting with someone much younger then themselves. Damien did not look older then he appeared. He was sixteen-years-old and that's exactly what he would look like.

With this in mind, as well as the logical minds of women, charming them with his hands was obviously out of the question. Damien relied on words. His words, if chosen correctly, made him appear to be older and experienced. When the women were completely, if not mostly, seduced by his words, then he would let his hands and lips do the rest of the work. Charming women was more of a challenge for him, and the reward seemed to be more worth it. And because the majority of his teachers were women, he knew exactly how to skip his class and still come out with a passing grade. This was proven when one of the cheerleaders walked into his World History teacher's office and found the teacher in nothing but her bra and underwear while Damien massaged and groped her breasts.

_Seducing humans proves to be no challenge at all, these days. _he thought to himself as the cheerleader unbuttoned his pants, then dropped to her knees.

Lilianna seemed to be a very slight mix of both. She didn't particularly like her classes and didn't do too well with her grades. That, however, was because it was hard to keep up with her studies when the boys behind her were talking about her ass. And although it came as a surprise to many of the students, Lilianna really wasn't as hormonal as the girls that Damien would seduce. She was still a virgin girl, she was single, and seemed to have really no interest in the boys at her school. The boys would talk a lot about her mother, though. Mostly the comments consisted of why Tifa's breasts were larger in Final Fantasy VII, yet smaller in Advent Children. She'd respond with "How am I supposed to know?" and walk away.

One class that Lilianna was excellent in, however, was physical education. Now Lili did not look at herself as a "jock", but she found sports and exercising to be much more fun and interesting then books and studying. She made the cheerleading squad for her acrobatic skills, and found herself at the bottom of the pyramid due to her inhuman strength. Lili also made it on the soccer team with very little effort. Her speed, evasiveness, and accuracy were almost flawless, naturally surpassing anything the humans had. However, she decided to challenge herself when she tried out for the team, so she didn't make the rest of her teammates look inferior. Lili was also very skilled when it came to archery. Shooting arrows seemed to be more mysterious as opposed to shooting guns. But although she loved the arrows for being smoother, graceful and silent, she quickly got bored of archery when she kept hitting the bullseye over and over again.

Another class she aced was home economics. When Tifa Lockheart is your mother, it is in your genes to become a naturally excellent cook. Cooking was much more interesting then physical education (which came as a surprise to Lilianna, since she loved gym class more then anything). Cooking was more challenging, and she had to be very precise and meticulous about it. In that class, Lili had to determine much water or flour she should add into the bowl to make the cake moist and fluffy. She had to determine how long she had to keep the muffins in the oven so they wouldn't come out burnt. Plus, cooking allowed her several ways to challenge herself. She found herself flipping through the book, trying out new recipes, rejoicing when she made an accomplishment and mourning when she had a failure. But a few setbacks did not keep her from doing what she loved.

_Dad and Grandpa were wrong... school can be useful for demons. _she thought to herself when she pulled out a perfect pineapple upside-down cake from the oven.

Yet there was one thing that the Sparda triplets and the human students had in common: school seemed _way_ too long for them. In Damien's case, it wasn't a problem (for he could have his way with the human girls all day long and not have a care in the world). For Otium and Lilianna on the other hand, school work as well as annoying human boys and girls chasing after you all day long made the day seem much longer. Ontop of that, despite that they were minor-celebrities in a sense, the two didn't have any real friends. The classes were fun from time to time, and the teachers could be very nice, but the students were just hard to get along with. It wasn't that they were cruel or mean, but it was hard to tell if they were truthful. Did they want to make friends with Otium and Lilianna because of who they were, or because of who their parents were? That was the dilemma, most of the time.

However, at the end of the day, it was always good to return home. As usual, they walked back to the house. There was hardly any conversation on the way home. Otium was always very quiet, but occassionally Lilianna would say something about how she wished Damien would at least attempt to learn rather then sleep around with random strangers. If Damien didn't hit her and start up a huge fight, he would say something along the lines of "I paid attention during sex ed. Doesn't that count?", which would usually spark an arguement. In the end, Otium was always the one breaking it up. Then the three would continue on their way home as silent as he was.

School was always interesting for those three. Whether they loved it or despised it in it's entirity, there was always something interesting and new that they learned for it everyday. And silently the three had to thank their mother at the end of the day for letting them attend it.


	7. Something's Wrong With That Boy

**THREEFOLD**

**CHAPTER SIX - Something's Wrong With That Boy...**

It was around dinner time in the Sparda household. Lili was sitting on the couch with Eva, laughing and giggling at another episode of _Sex and the City _while Sparda was out in the backyard, sparring with Damien and yelling at Otium to join in. His shouts were in vain. Otium wouldn't budge, let alone look his grandfather in the eye. This mildly annoyed Sparda. His own grandson would rather read then train? Just how was his son and daughter-in-law raising these kids? In the kitchen, Tifa was cutting up a celery stalk with a rather large kitchen knife. Vergil, seeing this display (a beautiful woman with a dangerous weapon) was, to be blunt, aroused. With a devious grin, the son of Sparda silently stepped into the kitchen. His footsteps were silent as he drew closer, and the silence remained as his arms reached out towards his wife, gently wrapping around her waist as he brought his face to her neck. Earlier on in their relationship, his sneaking up on her had surprised Tifa from time to time. But she had grown used to it after all these years. A smile formed on her soft, pink lips as she slightly tilted her head to the side, letting Vergil nuzzle and kiss her neck while holding her closer against him.

"What's on you're mind, dear?" Tifa asked in a very soft voice, not wanting to attract the attention of her daughter and mother-in-law.

Vergil growled slightly, kissing her neck slightly harder. "I was wondering..." his hands massaged her hips. "Why you never used a weapon in your battles..." one hand continued to massage while the other trailed down her arms, clasped over her hand and assisted her in slicing the vegetable. "When you look absolutely _irresistable_ holding one."

Tifa blushed, giggled slightly, then turned her head to look at Vergil. "Oh? I thought you'd be impressed that I didn't need a weapon when it came to a fight."

Vergil chuckled at that. "Oh I am." the hand that had massaged her hip had moved onto the front of her pants. "But I would prefer it if you carried a sword, like the men in my family." his hand began to unbutton her pants. "Because I would love to have the opportunity to rid you of your weapon during our little spars, then use it to slice off your clothes."

Tifa shook her head and placed her other hand over his, stopping him from unbuttoning her pants further. "Vergil, not now." she protested. "You're mother and daughter are right over there."

Vergil chuckled and unbuttoned one more. "Then let them watch."

"Watch what?"

At that, both Vergil and Tifa stood straight and looked over their shoulders. Lilianna had stepped into the kitchen with an empty glass, and was looking her parents over with a "Get a room" look on her face. Tifa smiled, then shook her head.

"I thought that program wasn't appropriate for you to watch, but you're father said it was alright." was her response.

Lili shook her head and chuckled. "Right. Good one, Mom." she said with a laugh, then opened the fridge. The daughter of Vergil refilled her glass with orange Kool Aid, then exited the kitchen just in time to see Sarah Jessica Parker screaming at a squirrel and dropping pie crust.

As soon as she exited, Tifa turned around and playfully pointed the tip of the knife at Vergil's chest. "Like I said. Not now."

Vergil chuckled, then lifted his hands in the air in a surrendering way. And very slowly he stepped away from her. "If my dearest commands."

Tifa laughed. "And she does."

Tifa returned to cooking as Vergil stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. Lilianna and Eva were stilling roaring with laughter over that television show. Vergil himself was not familiar with the program. He had never taken the time to sit down and watch television (except on one particular occassion when Dante and RD made him watch a movie known as_ Pulp Fiction_, which the son of Sparda found mildly disturbing). To his convinience, he watched the program that had his mother and daughter laughing up a storm long enough to see the blonde that the two called Samantha having sex with a farm boy. At that Vergil rose his eyebrows, then glanced down at his daughter. Sure, the program did not show anything too obsence. The woman was covering her breasts, and the man's parts were not visible, but Vergil didn't like the fact that his daughter was watching it. From what he heard, television had a knack for putting ideas into the minds of others. He personally didn't want to see his daughter mating with someone anytime soon, then blame it on the television.

"Lilianna..."

His voice made Lili stiffen up. Automatically her hand lashed out, grabbed the remote and then turned off the TV. She looked up at her father with a very, very awkward looking face.

"Ye-Yeah Daddy?" she stammered.

Vergil almost laughed at her "I'm so busted" face, but then began to speak. "Perhaps your mother was correct... I don't think you should be watching that particular show."

Then she groaned. "Oh come on, Daddy. Grandma said it was alright..."

Vergil narrowed his eyes. "And you're father says it isn't." he looked at his mother. "No more of that."

Eva turned and looked at her son, shaking her head. "Oh Vergil, don't be too protective. It isn't like we're watching something dirty. The show is actually quite funny, and I am _not_ referring to the sex scenes."

Vergil crossed his arms. "I don't want her watching it. End of story."

Vergil turned on his heel and exited the room, hearing Lilianna groaning. His sharp ears didn't detact his mother's voice whispering into Lili's ear that they would continue watching the series up in her room. If he had, he probably would've screamed at her. He made it into the backyard and saw that Sparda was giving Damien some offense training. The legendary dark knight was deflected and blocking Damien's attacks. Every kick and punch was sent flying at his grandfather with deadly accuracy. Every swing of his sword went slicing or stabbing in Sparda's direction. Vergil looked at his son with a smile. Damien was developing into quite the warrior...

Then he looked down. There was Otium, on the steps of the stairs, reading something called Macbeth. He had a highlighter in one hand, and was highlighting certain sentences, obviously studying for a test or something. Vergil then looked to the side, and saw several other books. They seemed to be for his entertainment, for Vergil highly doubted that his teachers assigned him to read _Frankenstein, Gone With the Wind, Hamlet _and _Macbeth_ all at once. Otium was as good at multitasking as his mother. But why did the son of Vergil refuse to spar with his grandfather?

As if the boy could feel his father's eyes on him, Otium lifted his head and was looking up into Vergil's face. "Hello Father."

Vergil knelt down beside his son. "What are you reading?"

Otium looked down at the pages. "Macbeth..." he said quietly. "It's pretty interesting... kind of hard to read at some points."

Vergil chuckled. "Hard to read? That seems impossible, coming from you." he eyed the other books again. "You seem to love it."

Otium nodded slowly. "I like to read... these books are interesting." he looked at his father. "I see you reading a lot... well, sometimes anyway. Don't you think books are interesting?"

Vergil chuckled. _Perhaps there is some of his father inside of him after all. _"I suppose. But the books I read are mostly about him though." he looked up at Sparda, who had now switched to defensive training.

The son of Vergil blinked his red eyes and sighed. "Grandpa is... something else, isn't he?"

At that Vergil just laughed. "Ah yes, that he is." he shook his head as his father was hollering and shouting at Damien as he attacked. "It's almost hard to believe that he is the same devil who defeated Mundus."

"COME ON, BOY! YOU HAVE TO BE QUICKER THEN THAT! DON'T HOLD THE SWORD THAT WAY WHEN YOU BLOCK! JESUS, YOU FIGHT LIKE A GIRL SOMETIMES! FIGHT LIKE A SPARDA! THAT'S IT!" the dark knight shouted with every attack.

Otium nodded slowly. "Very hard to believe..."

After awhile, both Sparda and Damien stopped sparring. Damien was dripping with sweat and had a few welts, bruises and shallow cuts from attacks that he wasn't quick enough to block. They would heal quickly, so he didn't worry about them too much. Sparda on the other hand, didn't break a sweat, and instead brushed the dirt and dust off of his purple coat. Damien wiped the sweat off of his brow, and the two Spardas headed towards the porch, stopping infront of Vergil and his oldest son.

"I see you've been training him well." Vergil said, looking from Damien to Sparda.

Damien's grandfather smiled and crossed his arms. "He's got talent. Hopefully the devil inside of him will come out sooner then expected."

At that, Damien just grinned. "That's awesome! Then I'll be able to Devil Trigger like Dad and Uncle Dante!" then he glanced down at Otium. "Hey Oti, what do you think my devil form's gonna look like?"

Otium looked up, and to his misfortune, all eyes fell on him. He hated being on the spot. While his father and brother seemed curious as to what his response would be, his grandfather had that look in his eye that looked as if he was wondering why Otium didn't want to train and spar. After a moment, Otium spoke.

"I... hope you don't have a Devil Trigger."

His response made all three of his relatives gape at him in surprise. Damien blinked awkwardly, then looked his brother over as if the boy was insane.

"But... how come? I mean, that's what we are." he stammered, just as shocked as his father and grandfather.

Otium began to tense up. He was on the spot big time now. "Well..." his eyes shifted. "I don't like the idea of my brother turning into someone else."

At that, Vergil placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "But he won't be turning into someone else." the son of Sparda said. "He will still be you're brother. Just with a different appearance. His mind and spirit will remain the same."

Sparda nodded. "That is correct. He will still be the same person. Devil triggers do not alter someone's personality."

Otium glanced down. "I guess you're right..."

Vergil and Sparda were about to respond when Tifa's voice cut them off. Vergil's wife stepped into the backyard with a grin on her face. Judging by the smell of food that emanated from the house, dinner was obviously ready. But then Tifa took one look at Damien and shook her head.

"You go wash up before you eat anything." she said, placing her hands on her hips.

Damien groaned. "Oh come on, Ma! I'm starving!"

Tifa shook her head again. "Do as you're told, baby. Supper will be waiting for you when you're done cleaning yourself up."

With another groan, Damien made his way up the stairs and into the house. Vergil and Otium stood to their feet and walked into the house, Sparda following close behind, only to stop infront of Tifa. He brought himself close to her, whispering very quitely in her ear:"Something's wrong with you're son."

Tifa's eyes widened, then she looked up. "What do you mean?"

Sparda glanced up, taking a quick look at Otium, then looking back down at Tifa. "I don't think Otium... wants to be a devil. I honestly think that's a part of him that he does not want to be."

Tifa bit down on her lip and crossed her arms. "It's probably because he's around me. I've never said anything negative about the devils, but... I guess he just wishes he was completely human."

Sparda lifted his glass eye off of his face and rubbed it against his jacket. He placed it back on his eye and folded his arms infront of his chest. "Perhaps it's school."

Tifa sighed and shook her hand at him and turned to enter the house. "Can we not have this debate again? The kids need to be in school."

Sparda made a step toward her. "Think about it though, Tifa. Everyone in this world knows who we are. The people in their school must be pressuring them about it in some light. Suppose Otium saw or heard something about the devils that he... did not want to see or hear." he narrowed his eyes. "You know... very well what you're husband has done in the past. You're children don't."

Tifa stopped in her tracks and stared down at the floor. She was silent for a very long time. She knew he was right. When she and Vergil were raising the children, they never told them about the events that occurred in Vergil's youth. Tifa personally didn't want her kids to know that their father was once a very, very bad man. She didn't want them to know that he was a murderer, that he would kill his own twin just to be mighty. He was a different man now, and she did not want them to know about who he once was. Tifa looked up, then glanced over at Sparda.

"I'll talk to him." she said. "I'll talk to all of them... if they want to leave school, I'll see if I can find a governess and they can be homeschooled."

Sparda nodded slowly. "That sounds like a better idea." he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm only concerned for my grandson. I don't want to pressure you. He is your son, it is you're decision."

Tifa smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Sparda..." then she looked in the direction of the kitchen. "Well, dinner's ready. Let's hurry up before it gets cold."

Sparda smiled and watched as the brunette stepped into the kitchen and sat down at the table beside her husband. Damien had come back from the bathroom, his hair damp and face cleaned, and took a seat beside Otium, who sat between him and Lilianna. Sparda pulled out Eva's chair and let the blonde human sit down before he took his seat. For the first ten minutes, it seemed like they were going to have a quiet dinner. They obviously were hoping for too much. In the next minute, the back door opened up and in came Dante and RD.

"Hey! Just in time!" Dante shouted.

Lilianna looked over and grinned hugely. "Hey Uncle Dante!!"

Dante winked at his niece and strolled into the kitchen, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Lilianna. "Hey babe. How's life treatin' ya, today?"

At that Lili groaned. "Well, I'm not allowed to watch my favorite show anymore."

Before Vergil or Dante could retaliate, that was when Damien lifted his head up. "Why do you watch that show anyway? It's full of naked women. Are you into that stuff? Do you play for the other team, Lili?"

Tifa looked at him. "Damien, watch you're mouth!"

Then Lilianna jumped in. "You WOULD say that, wouldn't you? Did it ever enter you're puny little mind that maybe I find the show FUNNY? There's a lot more to it then naked women!"

Damien waved her off. "Oh excuses, excuses. You dig chicks and you know it."

"I DON'T!" Lili shouted.

Otium lowered his eyes and continued to chew on a piece of meat. The arguement turned into a heated verbal battle. Damien continued to make lesbain insults while Lilianna went on and on about how immature he acted. Tifa then joined in, shouting at the both of them, trying to shut them up and have dinner in peace. Sparda, Vergil and Dante, however, seemed to be enjoying the show. After an indefinate amount of time, the screams were louder and Lili was ready to throw her glass of milk all over Damien's head. That was, until RD (who absolutely HATED noisy children), stole one of Dante's guns, opened up the kitchen window and shot a bullet into the air, silencing everyone in a split second.

"Thank God..." she muttered, then tossed Dante his gun. "I was going to ask what show it was, but I don't want that to start up all over again."

Vergil glanced at Lili after chewing a piece of steamed broccoli. "It wasn't an appropriate show for a young girl, let alone _my_ _daughter_."

Recognizing his tone, Dante knew that Vergil did not want to carry on this conversation, even though the verbal fight between his kids had entertained him. So, Dante decided to change the subject.

"Oh yeah, just got a bunch of katana swords shipped in. RD just made another special order, so we'll be getting some new and improved firearms as well. They're worth a fortune, we'll be making a lot of money with them. You know how the weapon sales have skyrocketed ever since we arrived in reality." then he grinned at Lilianna. "And if we get enough money... well..."

That was when RD smacked him slightly. "Dante, don't tell them. It's a surprise."

The triplets blinked and looked up. "What's a surprise!?" Damien shouted.

Dante laughed and looked at RD. "Oh come on, babe. I can at least tease them a bit."

Lili groaned. "Oh come on, Uncle Dante! You can't hold out on us like that! What is it!?"

Dante laughed and shook his head. "I'm not tellin'!"

Although Lili and Damien's plates were half full, they had completely forgotten about dinner and were out of their seats, tugging on Dante's arms and pushing him to fess up. Dante wasn't going down so easily. Between laughs and chuckles, he continued to repeat "I'm not telling!!" over and over, occassionally putting his niece and nephew in a headlock while they squirmed and struggled with him. Sparda and Eva looked up, shook their heads and smiled.

"He has such a way with children, dear." the blonde said with a laugh.

Sparda did not stop smiling. "That he does." then he looked down and continued to finish his dinner.

Tifa smiled at the sight before her, then stood up. "Alright you two, get back to eating. Leave Uncle Dante alone."

"But Mom! He has to tell us the surprise!" Damien pouted.

Lili joined in. "Yeah! What's it gonna be? Tell us!"

Dante shook his head. "Maybe you guys should listen to you're mom now. You don't wanna see her when she's angry."

With a series of groans and protests, the two returned to their seats and finished their dinner, occassionally looking at Dante with that "Tell me!!" look in their eye. But he would only smirk and shake his head, then continue having a conversation with his brother and father. However, Dante would always glance over and look at Otium from time to time. He was a strange boy. Lilianna and Damien were always so energetic and rowdy and loved to play, but Otium was just always silent and mellow. It was as if he was sick and wanted to quarantine himself or something. Whenever Dante and RD would come in and cause a ruckus, Otium wouldn't even acknowledge it.

_I wonder what goes on in that kid's head._ Dante thought to himself. _He sure as hell didn't turn out like the rest of the Spardas. Wonder why that is..._

Just what _was_ wrong with Otium anyway...?


	8. Going to Work with Uncle Dante

**THREEFOLD**

**Author's Notes:** First off, I'm going to direct this one at Devil Speaker. Am I really making Otium seem depressed? If so, then whups! That certainly wasn't my intention! Actually, I was just trying to make him seem really quiet and outcastish. Not exactly to the point where he would be cynical or anti-social, but just well-mannered and shy (a boy of few words, kind of like his father, but much more pleasant). I'll try not to make him too depressed. But getting to your question, I really don't want to answer right now, because I don't want to spoil the story or say something I (and my readers) might regret, but there is definately going to be more to Otium then what meets the eye. I promise you that much.

And everybody please keep the reviews coming! I don't care if it's criticism or praise, heck I'm so desperate for reviews, I'll even take a flame (assuming the flamer states why he/she doesn't like the fic and doesn't post useless spam). And Liu? I'm not trying to make Vergil all kissy lovey-dovey. He's just being intimate (or lustful, whichever sounds more reasonable) with his wife. But don't worry. Although this fanfic focuses mostly on their kids, I'm going to go into a lot more detail and depth with the relationships between Vergil and Tifa, Sparda and Eva, and Dante and RD. And yes TikiGod784, there will be plenty of action to come!

Give me time, people! I promise you won't be disappointed! Just keep the reviews coming and I'll get motivated to write more!

And onto another note, thank you all SO very much for the 1533 hits! That's the most hits I've recieved out of all of my stories, and I thank you all for taking the time to read this fic. You guys mean the world to me and I love you!

Anyways, enough with my rambling. Here's chapter seven.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN - Going to Work with Uncle Dante**

It was a Saturday morning, a day after that little episode with Otium in the backyard. When breakfast was over and Otium was sitting on the couch watching reruns of _24_, he felt two very soft hands rest on both of his shoulders. The eldest son of Vergil blinked his red eyes in surprise, then looked up to see his mother looking down, into his face. She was smiling at him, and had that look in her eyes as if she was saying "What are you up to?" without speaking. Otium returned the smile.

"Hi Mom." he greated.

"How are you feeling, baby?" his mother asked, that smile never leaving her face.

"I'm alright. Just watching my show..." was the response.

Tifa looked up at the screen, just in time to see a blonde haired man scream "DAMN IT!" as loud as he possibly could. She blinked at that, then laughed. "Who's he?"

Otium held back a laugh, then responded. "Jack Bauer, the greatest federal agent in the world."

Tifa's hands left her son's shoulders, and she hopped over the couch and landed beside him, watching the show right along with him. From across the room, lingering in the hallway that led to the backyard, Vergil was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes focused on his wife and son. It was strange... Otium was always a boy of few words. He hated being on the spot, he disliked being the center of attention, he was never good at having a conversation, but all of his shyness seemed to vanish when he was around his mother. Even now, when he spoke to her, he never blushed or looked away out of shyness. It occurred to Vergil that his son felt more comfortable around Tifa then any other person. He could be himself around his mother. He could open up to her.

It actually made the son of Sparda smile. _It seems he has some of his father's bloodline in him after all. _he thought to himself. _The Spardas have always had a close attachment to their mother_

Then he glanced over towards the backyardSparda and Dante were in the back with the other two-thirds of Vergil and Tifa's triplets. Lilianna was sparring with Dante while Damien was back for round two with his grandfather. His father and brother seemed to be pushing them to the limit this time around, however. Both Damien and Lili were dripping with sweat and breathing heavily, and every attack and block seemed to wear them out bit by bit. Vergil recognized this right away. Apparentally the two were fighting, and Sparda was punishing them for it, just as he did when Vergil and Dante would fight as children.

He said it was to teach them not to fight with your family. According to Sparda, he would rather walk through fire then strike a member of his family. Apparentally he should have taught that lesson to Dante and Vergil more frequently when they were children. If he would have done that... maybe he and Dante wouldn't have to hide their past from the kids.

But Vergil dismissed that thought. He didn't want to think of that. Not now, anyway. He stepped into the doorway and glanced to the side, seeing Eva and RD having a conversation about something. He didn't pay attention as to what it was, for Dante's voice interrupted him.

"Hey Bro!" he shouted, forcing his twin to look at him. "Why don't you come out here and show your kids how it's done?"

Vergil chuckled and stepped onto the porch. "It looks like I won't have to." he glanced at his twin, then to his father. "You two seem to be keeping them busy."

Dante chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't referring to that." He pointed at him. "Why don't we show them what a real fight is like? What _real_ sparring is all about."

At that, Damien and Lilianna's eyes widened, and both RD and Eva turned their heads in the direction of the twins. Hearing Dante challenge his brother didn't sound in the least bit comforting. Granted, Vergil's children knew nothing about the Sparda Twins' past, but the thought of those two fighting each other sounded, for lack of better words,_ scary_.

Vergil however, responded by unsheathing his Yamato and pointing it at Dante. "Are you that determined to get your ass kicked?"

Dante just chuckled and pointed his sword at his brother. "I was about to ask the same question, bro."

And with that said, the two went leaping at each other...

"Oh no you dont'!"

...Then they came to a complete halt as Tifa stepped into the backyard, Otium following close behind.

"The last time the both of you were sparring, my backyard was completely leveled. I don't want it happening again, so don't even think about it." she snapped.

Dante sighed. "Well that was anti-climatic..." he groaned. "Looks like we'll have to find another backyard then."

Vergil chuckled. "So it would seem." Vergil took one quick look at his children, then looked at Dante. "Say Dante... wasn't there something you wanted to tell these three?"

Just as Vergil spoke those words, Lilianna and Damien's head whipped in Dante's direction. Vergil's twin couldn't help but smile when two very excited and anxious faces were staring right at him. Those two obviously knew that whenever Uncle Dante had a surprise for them, it was _definately_ going to be something good. For a moment, Dante looked away from their excited faces and looked right at Otium... who once again didn't seem as estatic as his younger siblings. The boy was looking at his uncle, perhaps in _some_ curiousity, but showed no real interest in what he was going to say. Dante cleared his throat, then looked back down to the kids who actually gave a damn about what he was going to say.

"Well, me, RD and your parents decided that since you've all been good-"

From the padio, Eva rose her eyebrows. "You mean Damien and Lilianna's endless fighting is good behavior?"

Dante ignored his mother and continued. "-That you all can come to the new shop and see what your Uncle Dante does for a living."

Dante wasn't sure what came first: Damien and Lilianna screaming and cheering with glee, or the two of them leaping onto him and tackling him onto the ground. Before he knew it, he was lying on the grass, on his back, and felt his niece and nephew hugging him tightly while shouting various comments, such as "YOU ROCK, UNCLE DANTE!" and "OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU, MAN!" The uncle of Vergil's children couldn't help but laugh and return the hugs as he sat up. He lifted his head, looking right at Otium who still didn't seem as excited as his siblings. Dante rose an eyebrow, then opened up his arms to his nephew.

"Hey Oti..." he said with a smile. "Come give your Uncle Dante a hug. Aren't you excited?"

Once again, Otium felt all the attention turn to him. His father, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, and even RD all turned their attention onto him, and he absolutely _hated_ it. Each person looked at him with that "Oh god, what's he going to say next?" look in their eye. If anything was unnerving, it was certainly that look. Inhaling deeply, Otium nodded very slightly.

"I guess." was his response, but he didn't walk over and embrace his uncle.

Tifa placed a hand on her son's shoulder, causing him to look up at her. "Go on, Otium. Don't be mean."

But at that, the boy just couldn't handle all of the attention. He shook his head, then turned away slowly. "I'll get ready to leave, then." was his response before walking back into the house.

Dante sat there with his other niece and nephew, looking absolutely dumbstruck, but then shook his head and returned to playing with the other two. From the padio, Eva folded her hands infront of her and rested her head on them, looking at RD all the while.

"Do you think that taking him to the store will do him good?" the mother of Dante and Vergil asked.

RD shrugged. "If it doesn't, then we can at least say that we tried. I really think Otium needs to get closer to his uncle. Dante just can't stand it when Otium does that, you know? I mean, as much as he loves those kids 'n all..."

Eva sighed and nodded. "Well... all we can do is hope."

"Woah!!!!"

"Look at this place!"

"Look at all this stuff! It's awesome!"

"Uncle Dante, where'd you get this thing?!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down for a minute! I'll give you the grand tour afterwards. But first... PIZZA IS HERE!"

"PIZZA!!!"

"Ahhh!"

Within the hour, Dante and RD managed to haul the kids into RD's corvette (cleverly named "The Little Red") and drive to Dante's new shop, _Devil Never Cry_. The shop was located somewhere around southern Maryland, and about ten blocks away from the triplets' home. The shop was also rather large, looking somewhat similiar to Dante's place back in the world he came from before he and his family stepped into reality. The place wasn't as spacious as the other one though. There were sofas here and there, a backroom where the bathroom was, and a stairway leading to the second floor where Dante and RD's room was. There was a jukebox in the cornor of the room, two very large windows, a drumset and some instrument cases in another corner, and several counters and shelves filled with state of the art weaponry. Everything from swords, battle axes, spears and .44 magnums was in that shop.

And on Dante's desk (which was towards the back of the main room) were three boxes of pizza. And the first one was already ripped open by the triplets. Two of them anyway. Otium waited after his uncle and his two siblings were done grabbing at least three slices each before he came up and picked out one really cheesy slice that was topped with a lot of pepperonis and mushrooms. While the kids and their uncle began to chow down on the pizza, RD moved upstairs, only to come back down with a rather large package.

"Here's the shipment that arrived today. You kids get to be the first ones to see 'em." she said as she set the slightly heavy box onto the desk, next to the pizzas. "Apparentally our friends over in England found a new way to heat the iron they used to forge the swords and knives they sent us. They wrote in their letters that the weapons are going to be lighter then usual, but still as strong."

Dante looked at her with a playful grin. "Spoken like a true business woman."

RD just smirked. She crossed her arms and leaned against the desk. "Well, somebody has to run the store while you're off at the Love Basket."

Both Lilianna and Damien choked on their slice of pizza. Then they turned their heads in Dante's direction. "_Love Basket_?" their voices chimed together.

Before Dante could respond with an excuse and before RD could cut him off with the truth, that was when Otium's voice was heard. "It's a new strip club that opened up a few weeks ago. It's owned by RD's friend, Tana. And Uncle Dante's been going there with Zack and Cloud quite a lot while RD takes care of the store."

Everyone stood, stared, and gaped at Otium. Once again he felt the pressure of being on the spot and regretted saying a word. His eyes lowered and he went back to chewing on his slice of pizza. Lilianna was the first person to break the silence.

"How did you possibly... _know_ that?" she stammered.

Otium looked up slightly, then lowered his head again. "Mom's been talking about it with Grandma. I overheard."

Everyone's head then turned in Dante's direction. He looked somewhat embarassed. RD really didn't know what he was embarassed about. Dante wouldn't care if someone knew that he went to that Love Basket place on his lunch break. But on the flip side, she did realize that it was probably a bit disturbing that his nephew knew about it. She shook her head and then began to open the package.

"Well, that's not important. You guys wanna take a look at what just came in this morning?" she said.

The triplets came rushing over towards the package and peered inside, seeing nothing but bubblewrap and styrofoam. RD reached into the box and pulled out a smooth, crimson, rectangular polished case that looked a little bit heavy. She handed it over to Lilianna, then went back to digging into the box. She pulled out a second case, this time a cerulean one and handed it to Damien. She went back to digging through the bubblewrap and styrofoam and pulled out a black case, handing it to Otium. Dante, losing all signs of awkwardness and embarassment, smiled and stood beside RD, smiling at the triplets who looked as curious and excited as ever. He even noticed that Otium had a look of interest in his eye.

Dante smiled at that. _That's one way to get to him. After all, all kids love presents, right? _"Go ahead, guys! Open 'em up!"

Damien certainly didn't need to be told twice. Anxiously, he opened the blue case and his eyes widened with surprise. Inside the case was a gladius. The weapon was at least 22 inches long, the silver blade kept inside of an ivory sheath. The handle was studded with dark blue sapphires, and when he pulled the knife of out of the sheath, he saw the name _Sparda_ engraved onto the blade, next to a skull-shaped symbol, no doubt the mark of the England forger's trade. Lilianna, who had succeeded in opening the red case was gawking in surprise. Inside of that was a pair of Walther PPK's, one colored black, the other colored white. The handles each had a small, dark red garnet on it, and the same signature that had been on the gladius was on the barrel of the gun.

Otium had opened his case, and seemed to be almost as surprised as his brother and sister. Inside of his case was a strange pair of gloves. Both gloves were made out of a fine, black leather, but there were several silver rings, wires, and other small contraptions that were enwrapped around the fingers of the glove. Each fingertip was also tipped with a razor sharp claw-like shard, and a slab of metal was slapped over the the top of what would go over the knuckles and wrists of the person who would wear it. On those knuckles was the same signature, and Otium noticed that the slab of metal over the wrists had three small diamonds fused into it.

Dante, taking this time to bond with his eccentric nephew, put a hand on his shoulder and looked the weapon over. "Know what that is, Oti?" he asked.

Otium looked at his uncle, then at the weapon, then shook his head.

Dante grinned again. "It's called a _Nekote_. It's a Japanese weapon. Our buddies in England really worked their asses off on trying to one-up the Japanese guys who normally make 'em." He looked the gloves over, then grinned again. "I say they did a damn good job if you ask me. What do you think?"

Damien was holding the gladius in his hand and was looking it over in awe. "They're flippin awesome, Uncle Dante!"

Lilianna, who was holding the small guns in her hands and looking them over with admiration couldn't help but nod. "They're gorgeous. God, whoever made these really outdid themselves!"

Otium was still looking the weapons over. After a moment, he finally responded. "They're nice..."

Dante blinked at that. _Just nice?_ He shook his head and then looked up. "Well guys, this is your surprise. These are yours."

Two very loud screams went off, followed by a loud yell from Dante, a yelp from Otium, and a very loud _THUD! _Once again, Dante was on the floor with his niece and nephew ontop of him, hugging him tightly. He also noticed that he had knocked Otium over in the process.RD stood there, shaking her head and chuckling to herself while she walked over and helped herself to a slice of pizza. While the children and their uncle were busy rolling around and playing, she pulled out the rest of the cases that were in the box (and that weren't the gifts for the kids) and put them on display.

Otium, who wasn't part of the rough-housing that was taking place on the floor between his siblings and his uncle, walked over towards the shelves and glanced at the weapons that were on display. Apparentally his uncle's friend in England had decided to bring the weaponry from _Devil May Cry 3_ to life. He saw a strangely shaped, cyan-colored nunchaku with three bars rather then two, which fit the description of the Cerberus weapon his father had told him about. The next set of weapons were twin swords: one blade was blue, the other was red, and the hilts had strange, demonic faces engraved into them. This was obviously Dante's friend's version of the Agni and Rudra weapons. Next to that was a very large, dark-purple scythe in the shape of a guitar. Otium recognized this as the Nevan weapon, simply because his "auntie" had transformed into it at one point so Uncle Dante could "relive the good ol' days". He highly doubted that this weapon could summon forth bats and blast it's enemies with electricity though. Beside the Nevan weapon were a pair of silver gauntlets that were made for both the arms _and_ the legs, both in the shape of a wolf's head. The Beowulf weapons, no doubt.

_Strange..._ Otium thought to himself. _They won't let us play the games that our father and uncle are from... so why do they tempt us?_

RD looked the boy over and walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "See anything you like, Oti?"

The boy didn't even look at her. She figured that was probably his way of saying "Don't bother me", when really he was just lost in thought to notice that she was standing there. RD had never been very good with kids. She had a knack for misunderstanding them on countless occassions. And at times she really didn't have any patience for them. It didn't take long for her to mutter something under her breath and walk away from Dante's nephew. She headed over towards the others and grinned at them. Perhaps they'd be a little more pleasant to be around.

"So, I take it you guys like 'em." she said.

Damien grinned hugely. "Hell yeah!"

Lilianna smiled. "Was it your idea, RD?"

_Thank god, they are more pleasant to be around... _she thought to herself. "It was my idea to get you guys a present. Dante was the one who picked 'em out for you. He knows you guys better then I do, so he knew what weapons to get you guys."

Damien lightly punched his uncle in the arm. "Oh man, thanks a bunch, Uncle Dante! This thing's just too cool!"

Lilianna looked over the guns before she looked over at Dante. "Is Mom okay with it, though? I mean, Dad won't mind and Grandpa sure won't, but..."

Dante nodded. "Don't worry about it, babe. We checked in with your parents before we bought 'em. They say it's all good unless you and Damien decide to kill each other."

At that, Damien glanced at his gladius and just smirked. "That wouldn't be a bad idea, you know..."

Lilianna pointed both guns at him. "It _is_ tempting, isn't it?"

Dante shook his head. "Come on now, we don't need any of that. Wouldn't want to take 'em away from you guys."

That was when the phone rang and RD swore. "Ugh, playtime's over, it would seem. Time to get to work." then she pointed at the triplets. "Put your presents away, okay? If the wrong person sees a bunch of kids playing around with swords and guns, then me and Uncle Dante are fucked."

The kids groaned a bit, but a nod from Dante was all the prompting they needed to pack up their gifts. Otium broke out of his trance and obeyed his uncle's girlfriend as well. Then the work day began. RD was making and answering phone calls while Dante dealt with the costumers who came in for help and weapon reccomendation. Damien and Lilianna helped out from time to time, polishing up some of the weapons, or fetching them for Dante whenever he wanted to show something to the paying customer. But he noticed that throughout the entire visit, Otium really didn't seem to be enjoying himself. Sure, he liked the present, but Dante still didn't know how he was going to really bond with that boy and get to know him better.

A few hours passed. Otium had the jukebox blasting and RD and Lilianna were doing a silly dance out in the open. Otium was on the couch, looking at the Nekote gloves that Dante had given him, and Dante seemed to be watching him the entire time.

_You know... Vergil did say that Otium was closer to his mom..._ Dante thought to himself, then smiled. _I should probably bring it up... maybe it'll start up some kind of conversation..._

* * *

And because I'm such an evil person, I'm going to leave you with a cliffhanger. Hehe. Well, tune in next time to see how Otium and Dante's conversation turns out, if it ever really happens. Keep reading and reviewing! It gives me motivation! 


	9. Realization

**THREEFOLD**

**Author's Note:** Once again, thanks for the hits, thanks for the comments, and thanks for reading! It means a lot to me, so please keep it up! But the note's here in this chapter just to clear some things up (there seems to be a lot of confusion). For one, this fic (obviously) is a great big alternate universe, and is based on a roleplaying game that I'm in on a website called blurty-dot-com (which has now moved to greatestjournal-dot-com for those who are interested). **The RPG is about characters from other worlds (such as books, anime, games, animated films, cartoons, and even original characters) are brought into reality (this world)**. This also includes characters that used to be dead, but are revived when they come into existance (which is why Zack, Sparda, and Eva are still alive and kicking). So this isn't taking place in the Devil May Cry or Final Fantasy VII timeline. These are characters trying to make a living in the real world/existance/reality/whatever you wanna call it. I hope that clears it up a bit.

Anyways, on with the story!

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT - REALIZATION**

Otium sat there on the sofa, looking those gloves over while his brother and sister danced around to the ear-splitting death metal music that was blasting out of the jukebox. As soon as he heard the lead singer's monsterous voice, he wasn't all that surprised when it was revealed that Uncle Dante liked _Dethklok_. His uncle always did seem to like these kind of bands: no real singing, just a lot of screaming to a catchy (and addicting) beat. Otium wasn't a big fan of metal. He recognized the band because his brother and sister seemed to have the same metal-addiction as Dante, and the music was always heard in the Sparda family's house.

Music asside, it didn't come to a surprise to Otium when his uncle came over and sat down beside him. Otium didn't even have to look up to see if it was him or not. He knew it was him right off the back. The way that his footsteps sounded (how he managed to hear Dante's footsteps through the blasting music is unknown to all), the pace of those footsteps, the way the couch sank in when he sat down, everything about those movements just screamed _Dante_. After a moment of staring at the clawed gloves, the eldest of the Sparda triplets looked up into his uncle's face with a neutral expression.

"Hey..." Dante greeted. "Having a good time?"

Otium nodded slowly. "I'm enjoying myself."

Dante placed his hands on his knees and then looked at his nephew right in the eyes. "Hey Oti... I've been wanting to ask you something. We seem kind of... distant. I just want to know if I've done something to you to make you feel uncomfortable."

Otium looked down. "It's nothing. You haven't done anything."

Dante exhaled with relief, but seemed displeased that his nephew refused to look him in the eye while he gave that statement. "Are you sure?"

Otium began to stiffen up a bit. It wasn't that he was intimidated by his uncle, but he hated when people tried to pry. "I'm sure..." was his response.

Dante still didn't look very satisfied. Before he could say another word, that's when he felt something hit his arm. He winced a bit, then glanced over, looking at RD.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" he snapped.

RD brought herself close to him and hissed in his ear, "You're making him uncomfortable. Back off a bit."

Dante hissed back, "I'm just trying to talk to the kid. He's acting like I'm about to chop his hands off."

RD tugged on his arm, beckoning him to follow her. "Give him some space, he's never going to open up to you when he's that uptight."

Dante rolled his eyes, realizing she was right, and patted Otium on the shoulder. "I'll talk to you some other time... 'scuse me."

Otium just nodded and watched RD pull Dante off of the couch and lead him over towards his dancing niece and nephew. The eldest son of Vergil was relieved to see Lilianna and Damien enjoying their time together with their uncle. Although Uncle Dante never really made Otium comfortable, he was happy knowing that with him in the room, Lili and Damien coexisted instead of beating the hell out of each other. Maybe it was because they didn't want to get in trouble with their parents, or maybe it was because Dante was so much fun that they forgot about what made them angry and want to fight. For that, Otium was happy.

But Otium was stunned when he saw Dante walk over and pull Lilianna to the side. The two demons walked over towards Dante's desk, away from the others, and appeared to be talking. At that Otium just sighed. He knew that they were talking about him. It seems that he was the only thing his family seemed to talk about these days. Personally he wished that they would just back off and leave him out of their gossip, but he would never have the nerve to make such a request. He was just too shy of a person, and plus, if he ever did summon up the courage to say that to his family, he would have centerstage again. Naturally, that was something he wanted to avoid.

_Maybe I could ask Mom to talk to them. _he thought to himself. _I'm comfortable around her... I don't know why I can open up to her so easily. _then he looked up from the floor and focused his eyes on the palm of his hand. _Or maybe... maybe she's easier to talk to because she never..._

Otium just shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He didn't want to think about that. Not now. Not when it was supposed to be a happy occassion.

From across the room, Dante leaned forward and put a hand on Lili's shoulder, bringing her close to him so he could whisper to her. "Lili... what's wrong with Oti?"

The youngest of the Sparda triplets just shrugged her shoulders. "He's very shy, Uncle Dante. Sometimes I think he's too shy to even speak to me anymore."

At that, Dante's eyebrows rose in surprise. That didn't sound right at all. Otium and Lili seemed to be very close in the past. He thought Otium would have at least opened up to her of all people. "Lili, you don't think someone's giving Oti any problems, do you?"

She just sighed. "I really don't know. He's more then capable of watching out for himself, and he knows that Damien and I would back him in a second if something went down. But... I really don't know what his problem is anymore..."

Dante just shook his head. _Dad's been telling me that Oti hasn't been training with him or Vergil at all. In fact the only person he seems to be comfortable around is Tifa. Maybe I should talk to her..._ he removed his hand from Lili's shoulder and nodded. "Thanks Lil. Go mosh some more."

* * *

"So even after all of that... you still weren't able to talk to him?"

"He just gets so defensive and tense. I can't talk to him when he gets like that."

It was the next day, and as planned, Dante had found himself over at Vergil and Tifa's home, talking to his sister-in-law in the privacy of her backyard. Damien was out at the arcade, Lili was with the soccer team, and Otium was up in his room finishing up some chemistry homework. Dante wasn't sure where Sparda, Eva and Vergil were, but he didn't feel the need to pry. And with RD working at the shop, Dante felt that this opportunity couldn't have been any better. He and Tifa were alone and capable of talking freely without being interrupted by anybody.

He liked it better this way, to be honest. Talking to Tifa seemed to be more enjoyable as oppose to talking with Vergil or his father. She had always been nice to him, which was new for Dante. Every girl he met in the past seemed to be irritated with him in some way, shape or form. Hell, if she hadn't been his sister-in-law, he would've asked her out a _long_ time ago. But platonically, the two got along rather well, and that was all that mattered to Dante. There was no way he would betray RD or his brother like that. Having Tifa as a friend and in-law was good enough for him. She made him the best mixed drinks she could think of and put him right at ease, making their conversation as comfortable as possible.

"Otium's shy... that much is certain. But I don't think he would intentionally want to hurt someone who loves him." Tifa said, taking a sip of her drink.

Dante nodded slowly. "That's what I thought too. But maybe... I don't know, maybe he thinks that I _don't_ love him or something."

Tifa shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. A blind man could see that you love those children." she lowered her head and folded her hands together. "Maybe he just doesn't know how to express himself."

The devil inhaled deeply, then look a drink. "I don't think that's it, Tifa. The way that kid acts... he's acting as if I did something wrong. LIke I did something bad to him." with a hurt expression, Dante lifted his head and looked his sister-in-law in the eye. "I haven't done anything bad to him, have I?"

Tifa reached across the table and placed a hand on his arm. "I've known you for a long time, Dante. You've been good to this family for as long as I can remember. And if you _have_ done anything that might've angered him, I'm sure it wasn't anything serious. And if it is, we can settle it."

Dante's face didn't light up when she spoke those words, but she did get a smile out of him. "My brother's lucky to have someone like you. And those kids are lucky to have you for a mom." he nodded, then stood up. "I'd better get back to the shop. I'm glad I got to talk to you."

Tifa nodded and stood up as well, picking up the glasses off of the table. "You're welcome anytime, Dante. And I _will _talk to Otium about this. I'd like to know what's been bothering him as well. If I get something out of him, I'll be sure to let you know."

With that, Dante waved her goodbye, then turned around. He stepped through the house and made his way out. Tifa put the glasses into the sink, washed off her hands, and proceeded up the stairs, heading towards Otium's room. She stopped infront of his closed door, then knocked lightly on it.

"Oti... sweetie are you in there?" she asked.

There was silence for a moment, then she heard his voice. "I'm here."

Tifa placed her hand on the knob, only to feel it turn from underneath her palm and open. Oitum stood before her, opening the door, and allowing her to step inside. The two sat down on his bed and Tifa looked him over.

"Baby, what's been going on?" she asked. "Your Uncle Dante was here just now and he's very upset. I need to know, Oti, I promise I won't get angry. Has Dante done anything to make you upset?"

Otium didn't like where this was going. He lowered his head and inhaled deeply. Tifa didn't say anything until he confirmed something. After an indefinate amount of time, Otium nodded his head. Tifa's eyes widened slightly and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What did he do, baby?" she asked.

Very slowly, Otium looked up at Tifa. _"He killed my father."_


End file.
